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Apple Watch Versus the Masters

Author
Adam Hofheimer

I must admit, I am terribly excited as a result the Apple Inc. announcement that version 3 of Apple Watch will include an option for cellular communication. As someone who has a fairly dangerous addiction to the connected world; I am thrilled at the opportunity of being able to leave the phone behind while allowing me to embrace my never wavering dependency to connectivity.

Honestly, my first reaction was what is The Masters going to do? - I had the privilege of being invited to The Masters a couple of years ago - a true bucket list event. But they have a strict no cell rule - in fact, if they catch you, I believe, they will shame you as well as ban you from the event for life.

Rules are rules and I left my phone behind which created a temporary sense of anxiety. It wasn't that big of a deal (I only shook uncontrollably for an hour), but it did present some challenges particularly communicating with friends as we tried to meet on the course. I had to harken back to my early years where you created a time and a place and just met up - What a strange concept!

There are many places, events, etc... where cell phones are banned - the obvious intent is blocking the communication and not the device but that is much easier to administer by blocking all cell devices. However, a watch, both Apple's and others to follow, will pose a host of challenges to existing policy and monitoring procedures given the various form factors. I will be interested to see how policies become more open or restrictive based on this and other new product offerings. Surely, there will come a point where a whispered conversation via an electronic device will be considered no different than a whispered conversation in person from behind the ropes by Rae's Creek.

I have ordered the Apple Watch and it may be my saving grace to allow me to conspicuously stay connected. In terms of it valuable use case, The Masters is highly demonstrable but didn't even register on the important list - Jury Duty is an entirely different story.

I would love to get a hold of Apples use cases that supported the development. I have a list and I would love to know if I am in the mainstream.

By the way, Masters team, if you decide to amend your policy and ban watches - I will gladly accept an invitation for bringing this new challenge to your attention.